What is Skills England and what does it mean for the skills sector?

The new Labour government have announced the creation of Skills England, a new body to bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet skills needs across the UK.

The recent King’s speech emphasised the new government’s mission of economic growth and stability, and within this was a focus on skills including the Skills England Bill. Skills England will provide “strategic oversight of the post-16 skills system aligned to the government’s Industrial Strategy” to mend “the fractured skills landscape” and break down barriers to opportunity.

This article looks at what Skills England is and what it means for the skills sector. This includes initial reactions and questions raised by major business organisations in a recent webinar held by The Institute of Directors (IoD) Education Group exploring skills policy priorities for the new Labour government.

Hosted by Gareth John, Director of accountancy apprenticeship provider First Intuition, the webinar saw contributions from a panel formed of the IoD, Make UK, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).

What is Skills England?

Skills England is a body dedicated to ensuring that training provision is aligned with the needs of the economy. This will include identifying the training for which funding from the Growth and Skills levy will be accessible, giving businesses more flexibility to spend levy funds on training for the skills they need.

The organisation that currently shapes much of skills training for employers is the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). IfATE’s functions will transfer to Skills England as part of the new organisation’s remit, however, IfATE will continue their work in the interim. 

Furthermore, Skills England will “work to simplify and devolve adult education budgets to mayoral combined authorities to ensure that they can address their adult skills needs directly and support growth in their areas.”

The Benefits of Skills England

1. Responsive to skills needs: As an independent body made up of a variety of key stakeholders, Skills England will be better placed to accurately assess and respond to the skills needs of the UK for more effective long-term planning. This targeted approach will ensure that skills development aligns with long-term economic goals.
2. A stable policy that will encourage investment: Once in place, Skills England will provide a stable policy framework for the skills sector which will encourage strategic workforce planning. This stability is expected to boost business confidence in the skills system, encouraging greater investment in training and development. Moreover, the new body’s remit will link to a new industrial strategy, ensuring a cohesive approach to national skills planning.
3. Greater domestic skills self-sufficiency: Skills strategy will also be linked to immigration strategy which will allow Skills England to target training and funding to sectors where we rely heavily on importing skills.
4. Tailored skills to local needs: The emphasis on devolution within the Skills England framework is a positive step towards tailoring skills development to local needs, including targeting ‘cold spots’ in training delivery and breaking down barriers to opportunity. This approach enables closer collaboration between businesses, colleges, and training providers at a local level, ensuring that training programmes are directly aligned with local economic priorities and the specific needs of different regions.
5. More effective use of funds: The flexibility in the Apprenticeship Levy parameters will allow funds to be used more effectively, supporting lifelong learning and more modular training opportunities.

The Potential Challenges of Skills England

1. Managing the interim period: One of the major concerns raised by the speakers is the management of the interim period during the transition to Skills England. With the transition expected to take anywhere from 9 months to 3 years, there is a risk of disruption to current programmes and initiatives. There may be reduced investment in training from employers and a loss of momentum for change within the skills sector at a critical time. Ensuring the continuity of IfATE’s ‘BAU’ functions and other existing policies, as well as maintaining business investment in apprenticeships during this period is crucial.
2. Ensuring support for SME’s: Speakers emphasised the importance of Skills England engaging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ensuring they can also access the necessary support and funding. The government might consider incentivising businesses to invest in non-apprenticeship training through the tax system and by using other mechanisms, ensuring that SMEs are not left behind in the new skills system.
3. Representation of all: A significant challenge for Skills England will be ensuring that independent training providers and smaller businesses have a voice in the new system. It is essential the government work closely with businesses of all sizes as well as independent training providers and colleges to incorporate the diverse perspectives and needs for an inclusive skills policy that works for all stakeholders, not just larger organisations.
4. Balancing national and local priorities: While expanded devolution supports solutions at a local level, it also presents the risk of creating inconsistencies across regions. Skills England will need to balance local decision-making with a comprehensive national framework for skills, preventing a “postcode lottery” where training priorities and eligibility might vary significantly across the country.
5. Build on existing relationships: The sector is filled with knowledgeable and experienced professionals and their engagement and collaboration are essential. Furthermore, there is a lot of good existing policy the new government can build upon rather than starting afresh.
6. Fast enrolment: The speakers believe that for Skills England to be effective in fixing a skills system already in a critical position, it must move quickly to implement change, as well as to maintain momentum and support. The interim arrangements should start shaping the policy framework even before Skills England becomes fully operational to maintain business confidence and investment in the skills system.

The implementation of Skills England represents a significant step towards creating a more comprehensive and adaptable skills system that is critical to maintaining the UK economy. Its potential to provide a more local and targeted, whilst strategic and long-term approach to skills development is promising. But despite the optimism from key voices in the skills sector, they caution that the success of the programme will depend on effective management of the interim period, inclusive policy development, a balanced approach to national and local priorities, and a system that recognises and builds on its previous successes.

By Gareth John, Director of accountancy training firm First Intuition